This article originally appeared in Spanish on the Huffington Post. Today, education around the world is undergoing rapid changes. Technological innovations are giving rise not only to new products, but also new ways of thinking about learning. Teachers and parents around the world are using technology to augment educational experiences for students with unique needs, skills, and educational backgrounds. As access to technology continues to expand, the opportunities to use these tools to enhance students’… Read more

I had the pleasure recently of spending a little time with Simon Lebus, the Chief Executive of Cambridge Assessment (CA). The last time I checked, CA was Europe’s largest assessment agency. During part of that conversation, Simon pointed me to a research report CA produced in 2008 on critical thinking. The research methodology combined expert judgment with a review of relevant literature in order to produce consensus about what critical thinking is (and is not)… Read more

For some time now, many educators have contended that our current school-year-based system, in which students are expected to accomplish a certain set of objectives in a certain arbitrary unit of time, is fundamentally broken. One of the current, and controversial, approaches that seeks to fix it is “competency-based learning.” In a recent thought-paper published by iNACOL, three components of such systems are listed: Students advance upon mastery  Explicit and measurable learning objectives are established that empower… Read more

David Kuntz is the Vice President of Research at Knewton If you’ve spent any time in the field of educational technology, you may have heard the term “adaptive learning,” or one of its many aliases: adaptive instruction, adaptive hypermedia, computer-based learning, intelligent tutoring systems, computer-based pedagogical agents… If you’re like most people, however, the precise definition of the term(s) probably still eludes you. So the question remains: What is adaptive learning? At the most basic… Read more

David Kuntz developed the algorithm for Knewton’s GMAT prep course. He is one of the brilliant brains behind the accuracy of Knewton CATs. This is the final installment in his CAT FAQ. For more info, check out parts 1 and 2. Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 How can my overall percentile be higher than both my quantitative and verbal percentiles? Your overall score is calculated separately from your section scores, so you… Read more

David Kuntz is Vice President, Research at Knewton, where he builds the CATs for its online GMAT course. He is one of the brilliant brains behind the accuracy of Knewton CATs. This is part 2 in a series of posts about the algorithm behind the GMAT. Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 How is the GMAT actually scored? Here are some more questions that students frequently have about its algorithm. 1. My score… Read more

David Kuntz is Vice President, Research at Knewton, where he builds the CATs for its online GMAT course. Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 I’ve received a number of inquiries from the community about the GMAT algorithm, so I thought it best to reply in article form. Here are some frequently asked questions about computer-adaptive tests (CATs). 1. What’s an algorithm? An algorithm, generally, is a usually efficient set of well-defined steps that… Read more